There was some funny business associated with the demise of the post-Labor Day school start bill in Annapolis on the Senate side last week. That makes me wonder if the bill were to ever make it out of committee — it has failed the last two years — it might actually stand a chance.
Typically, if legislation dies in committee, it’s due to it being weak and problematic. However, rarely are the committee votes close on these types of legislation. In the case of the post-Labor Day school bill, which is opposed by all metropolitan area school systems, making it an admittedly “heavy lift,” in the words of one legislator, the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee voted 5-5 last week on the matter. The odd thing was the vote didn’t have to be a tie, as a committee member — a Republican from Baltimore County — was away for a conference and couldn’t attend. It’s unclear how he felt about the move, but it was clear the committee chair — Sen. Joan Carter Conway, who opposes the school start mandate — pushed the vote knowing the outcome would lead to its demise.
When the bill died in the Senate committee, a hearing on its companion legislation in the House of Delegates was subsequently cancelled. Therefore, another year will go by without truly knowing how the full legislature feels about it. In the meantime, it will be another school year of Worcester County being the only school system in the state to start school after Labor Day.
The shortage of suitable rental housing for employees in Ocean City will likely reach crisis proportions this summer, but this should not come as a surprise. It’s a direct result of dozens of properties being redeveloped into other uses over the last 15 years and there is no easy answer.
In fact, an argument could be made there is no answer period and overcrowding in the units will become a bigger problem than ever this summer. The fact is there are less seasonal housing units than ever before and more students — foreign and domestic — than ever looking for work here.
As a direct result of this shortage, some landlords — some with questionable scruples — are looking to maximize their earnings through simple supply and demand principles. The problem remains the inevitable overcrowding and the inherent safety concerns that come with it. There’s nothing new to landlords taking advantage of young and typically foreign students coming to work here. Oftentimes, these students are charged an outrageous amount of money to live in poor conditions with way too many individuals. There have been numerous horror stories shared with us over the years, including one from two summers ago when 11 foreign workers, each with two jobs, were each charged $500-a-month for a one-bedroom unit.
It’s easy to identify the problem, but addressing it with any kind of suitable enforcement is another matter. Nobody knows that better than Chief Building Inspector Kevin Brown, who reported issuing 12 citations last summer for overcrowding.
“We have a housing shortage and that’s unfortunate, but we need to clean up some of these issues,” he said. “In the worst case scenarios we run into, we’re not even sure if the smoke detectors and fire alarms are in place and in working order. A lot of the student workers remove them because they keep going off. … We see these units where the bunk beds are stacked with walkways so narrow they have to walk sideways to get through. We have pictures of doors and windows blocked with bunk beds. … To me, the law is black and white. I’ve been in these units and I see some of the conditions these kids have to live in, and in some cases, it’s deplorable. I just worry that overcrowding could be a bigger issue this year than it was last year if we aren’t careful.”
License Plate Readers (LPRs) have been around for many years and Ocean City has utilized them at the Routes 50 and 90 bridges for some time. In fact, there are two stories in this week’s police beat where stolen vehicles were tracked last year to Ocean City by these valuable devices.
In last week’s interview, Ocean City Police Chief Ross Buzzuro confirmed what has been thought for some time. There will be more of them being used in the future, and I think it’s a good thing given current events in the world.
“I believe the town will, from a geographical standpoint, be covered by LPR’s. I know there are concerns about them in the minds of some, but we don’t store any of that information. The information is sent through our partners in the Maryland State Police. When a criteria is met, and there is a trigger, we respond. We respond to a vehicle that is stolen. Maybe the tags are stolen or the individual may be wanted, and there are other criteria that we use with the LPR’s. But, it’s very exact and we don’t arbitrarily just stop vehicles,” Buzzuro said. “We have seen a great deal of success, and the LPR’s are attributed to stopping very dangerous felons in other communities and it’s a tool that is giving us a true helping hand. I also want to get the word out, because if you are coming to Ocean City and you are operating a motor vehicle that is stolen or you are wanted, don’t come to town because we are going to know about it, and we are going to stop you, and we are going to take action. If that can provide us an additional layer of public safety, the good side really outweighs the negatives.”